Remote RGB LED strip driver with PICBasic

If you have some RGB LED strip leftover from your previous project, do not let it go to waste. Why not building a simple three channel PWM driver with IR remote control support to power it with? It is a great weekend project that anyone can build.

This project is based on an old PIC16F84 we had lying around, three 1A transistors and an IR remote receiver. The firmware is written in PICBasic and is commented out so beginners could learn a thing or two about the way that device works. There are few firmwares available that decode: Nokia remote protocol, Sony and Philips.

The device has three PWM channels and each channel can have 7 levels of intensity plus eight that turns the channel off. To control it, you can use any remote with RC5 protocol, Phillips or any other remote you have.

Note: You can download the project files by clicking the red download button under the article.

In order to program your own remote keys, you need to put a jumper on the device and power it up. In this mode, we choose and press buttons on the remote to control channels: R, G, B, ON/OFF. To each our command, the device will answer by blinking the appropriate channel being programmed. After finishing the programming, remove the jumper and restart the device.

For now, using the same firmware it is possible to decode Sony protocol too!

UPDATE 2016-05-31: There is a new version of device in subfolder v2 in the downloadable RAR archive.